In a tough day of hard paddling in one of the largest dragon boat events in the world – attracting a total of 200 teams, including some of Hong Kong’s best – the Liechtenstein Princely Navy achieved its best result ever, coming third in the elite Men’s A Division.

Getting there was a long journey. After six month of hard training, counting over fifty training sessions, both on- and offshore, our crew of twenty plus Sailors was as fit and as ready as it could be. We already had four other races under our belt with good results to show off, but the Stanley Championship is the one that matters, the one everybody wants to win.

Every year Stanley seems to attract an ever larger field of weird and wonderful teams, many competing for fun and attending more for the beer than for the glory. That’s of course how the Liechtenstein Princely Navy also started off in 2000 but, having tasted the sweet sensation of success over the years, our ambition, drive and determination has grown considerably.

That doesn’t mean that we have given up on the beer intake – however, we do hold back until after the final race is over. In fact, to further enhance our chances of success the Admiralty had imposed an alcohol embargo on all crew for over a week prior to the race. The thought of our Foster’s sponsored supply of twelve cases of fuel (=288 cans), nicely chilled and awaiting our return from the finals was to provide that extra bit of motivation needed on our path to glory.

Unlike in 2009, when weather conditions were so abysmal that the entire race was turned into a big lottery of who would sink or crash next, conditions were near perfect this year – calm and flat waters accompanied by overcast skies with a bit of drizzle and wind, which would help to keep us cool in Hong Kong’s stifling summer.

Of the 200 teams, 18 were enlisted in the elite men’s A division. The format of the day would see us race in a field of nine A teams in two heats, earning points for position. The eight teams with the highest points score would advance into the top final, while the other ten would battle it out in a minor final. Our first goal, therefore, was to make it into the big final.

For our first heat we were lined up against last year’s champions, Jeb Fellas, and other strong contenders such as SMUGs, Fair Dinkum and the HK Sea School Old Boys Association. For the first time in the event’s history we would be racing in new fiberglass boats – instead of the heavy old wooden pigs – calling for a change in race strategy in favor of longer, deeper strokes to keep these lighter boats flying faster. Our start, however, would remain as powerful and furious as ever.

At the trigger of the starter’s gun we pulled away cleanly, but far too politely, meaning that unlike some other teams, we did not jump the start. This put us a bit on the back foot and had the unintended consequence that the back of the boat was trying to rush the front, which in turn was trying to control the pace. As a result, we never found the optimal timing but we powered ahead regardless, catching up with the early starters. We crossed the line in fourth, edged out of third place by the Fair Dinkies by .25 of a second.

As always, therefore, we had room to improve, particularly at the start.

Our second heat put us again together with the Jeb Fellas as well as Stormies, the Sea School and also Goldman Sachs, the only other bank-sponsored team in the A Cup, which frankly however was not even considered a remote threat to the Navy. Looking for an improvement from the first heat, we were obviously going to be more aggressive at the start.

As it turned out, to describe our launch into the second heat as “aggressive” or “ambitious” is putting it mildly! Chief Focus Officer Fred executed what can only be described as a MonsterLiechtestenStart that had half of the crew startled by its ferociousness. However, having by now been well trained to simply follow the lead from the front and keep paddling – no matter what happens – we all dug in together and headed down the course. Jeb Fellas and Stormies immediately latched onto our early pace, but everyone else was left miles behind. Feeling the combination of adrenaline, Red Bull and PowerGel pumping in our brains and bodies, we executed a classic Navy race piece – sharp, powerful and perfectly timed all the way to the line, which we crossed in third in 1:10.55 behind Jeb Fellas (in a blistering 1:08.05) and Stormies (in 1:09.72).

Our points total from the two heats was the 6th best of the 18 A teams and thus qualified us for the Grand Final.

With the first part of our mission accomplished, we retired to our junk to load up on carbs in the form of risotto and ham, expertly provided by Chief Galley Officer Stefan. After lunch, the Admiral presented the as always highly anticipated Awards and Promotions for 2010.

Thanks to the combination of good sea conditions and the inclusion of fiberglass boats for the races meant that for the first time in many years, the Stanley race was actually running on schedule. In fact, it was running slightly ahead of schedule as we had found out earlier when Liechtenstein was called to urgently load their boat for heat 2 as everyone else had already departed the beach.

Another first this year was the rule that any collision after the initial 50m of the 270m race course would no longer result in a re-race. This further improved the smooth running of the races, but proved somewhat controversial in the final.

Back on the water at 1700hrs for the final race of the day, we were now in formidable company. Only the best of the best make it into the top final. Jeb Fellas were there, having won both of their heats as indeed did the Tai Tam Tigers. Stormies, Fair Dinkum, SMUGs, Royal X Men and the HK Sea School completed the field.

As we maneuvered our craft into the starting slot, we looked down the familiar course to the beach, took a few deep breaths and loosened our muscles before turning our concentration and attention 100% onto CFO Fred. Chief Racing Officer Charlie – freshly promoted from Lieutenant to Lieutenant Commander – as always read conditions (and competitors) perfectly. His advice to CFO Fred was simple: focus on the top teams – as soon as they go, we go!

As the starter loaded his gun and shouted “READY” across the field, eighteen paddles snapped upwards, tips in the water, ready to go. Somewhere an elbow twitched and we were off! Digging deep, reaching far and pulling hard we kicked the boat forward. “One, two, three – HOT! – four, five, six – HOT – seven, eight, nine, ten – LET’S GO!” Putting six months of hard training to good use, we threw everything we had at this race, paddling like mad men driven by some unexplainable desire to scram as much pain into a minute as humanly possible.

Our Sailors have been well trained not to focus on any other boat than ours and thus it was hard to say where we were in relation to the other teams. But as we crossed the line and swung our heads around we only saw two other boats, with the Tigers clearly ahead and Fair Dinkum either second or third.

What happened to the teams from lane 6 down was not immediately clear, but could only be imagined from the long faces as their boats drifted to the beach well behind the field. Apparently, Stormies broke their helm shortly after the start, causing them to crash directionless into the Jeb Fellas. They immediately filed a protest with the umpire, but after some deliberation it was announced that the collision had clearly happened after the 50m mark and hence the result would stand. By then, we were well into our fourth can of Foster’s each and in no condition to re-race at any rate, instead celebrating an amazing podium finish.

Although the result is clearly the best ever in the Navy’s eleven year history, it left us with somewhat mixed feelings. On one hand, the collision made the Tiger’s victory (and our podium finish) feel somewhat hollow. Having expected to fight it out with the Jeb Fellas, there was a slight feeling of disappointment of having been beaten by the Tigers and Fair Dinkum (who beat us to second place by 0.6 of a second), teams that we have beaten on numerous lesser occasions. However, the Tigers had earned their victory with a convincing first place performance in both heats (albeit never against the Jeb Fellas).

On the other hand, however, the collision was not our fault and we had a clean race. We had worked as hard as any of the other top contenders and our third place finish was just as well deserved. But above all, we showed that amazing spirit, fantastic believe in ourselves and a willingness to give it all for Prince and Country that make the Liechtenstein Princely Navy such a unique team and such a joy to paddle with. We're simply the best naval force on the entire planet!

And finally, as our wise man Charlie always says – anything can happen in a final! And it often does!

Long Live Liechtenstein!!!